"early today." a terrifying scene for any parent. a school bus carrying ten children plunges into a creek. >> i thought i was going to die. >> we'll have the incredible details coming up next. did president obama seriously consider replacing vice president biden with hillary clinton? and how does mr. obama feel about former president clinton? fascinating details from the guys who brought you "game change." new airline rules about electronics thrill the flying masses. plus, a really bad day for this $300,000 ferrari, and the sights an sounds of the very healthy and seemingly happy halloween 2013. "early today" starts right now.

>> announcer: this is "early today" for friday, november 1st. good morning. i'm mara schiavocampo. we begin with the harrowing story of ten children who escaped a bus crash unharmed. their bus toppled off a bridge thursday into a fast moving creek in douglas, kansas. it landed on its side half submerged in the water. all the children on board were under the age of 13, the youngest just 6 years old. the older kids are credited with helping the younger ones escape through a roof hatch. >> they were all screaming and stuff and me and my friend told them to calm down and stuff. >> i was scared but i really wanted -- my friends, i tried to put them first to get them out of the water. >> at the same time, the 64-year-old bus driver called 911. he was later treated for hypothermia. this morning the kansas highway patrol is investigating why he drove on a water covered bridge.

officials say the rain caused the low rise bridge to flood the last couple of days. heavy rains are also hitting parts of texas especially hard leaving two people dead in the austin area following massive flooding. more than a foot of rain fell thursday triggering those flash floods and leading to dozens of rescues afterwards. some people were forced to cling to trees for hours after waiting too long to leave the rising waters. >> at that point i lost complete and total control and was coming up and down out of the water. i seriously -- i saw two of my dogs wash away. we ended up catching ahold of a tree. >> in austin, 5,000 customers were left without power. the storms also impacted the nations mid section. officials in at least four states had to make some tough decisions. parts of indiana, ohio, kentucky, and tennessee postponed halloween trick or treating. new this morning and for the first time defense secretary chuck hagel is speaking publicly about something he says causes a

division in the ranks. nine states are refusing to issue military i.d. cards to same-sex spouses of service members. that goes against a june supreme court ruling and pentagon policy. now secretary hagel says he's taking action to remedy the situation. >> everyone who serves our country in uniform, everyone in this country should receive all the benefits they deserve and they've earned, and in accordance with the law. everyone's rights must be protected. >> a senior defense official tells nbc news there are 114 national guard sites not complying with the policy. the skies might soon be just a little bit friendlier after a decision from the faa affecting the millions of us that fly each year. passengers will now be able to use smart phones, tablets, and ereaders on board. that includes during takeoff and landing as long as everything is in airplane mode, but you still won't be able to use your phone to make calls or send text messages during flight. the faa says airlines must prove their planes won't be affected

by the rule change and many are clamoring to be the first. the new york police department's controversial stop and frisk policy is back in the news. a federal appeals court has put a stop to the major overhaul of the program. in august the judge ruled the practice violated civil rights, but the decision late thursday keeps it going for now. opponents contend the stop and frisk unfairly targets minorities while police say it's vital for security. the judge who struck down the policy is off the case. the appeals court says she, quote, improperly steered the case to her bench. major bombshells are revealed about the 2012 presidential election in the soon-to-be-released book "double down." it's the sequel to "game change." the biggest jaw dropper, a major switch was considered for president obama's 2012 ticket. authors mark halperin and john heilemann write that the president's inner circle secretly considered replacing vice president joe biden with then secretary of state hillary clinton on the ticket in the most recent election. they went so far as

to get the opinion of focus groups, but in the end research showed there wasn't a big enough spike in support to justify that bold move. the vice president was not made aware of the deliberations. the authors also write president obama grew tired of bill clinton during a golf bonding outing, so much so they didn't even finish 18 holes. and another shocker. the authors say mitt romney nixed chris christie off of his ticket because of several unanswered questions including some about his medical history. >> halloween is over, but here are some trick and treats that arose from all hallow's eve. in canada, this wasn't your average x-ray. border agents at the montreal airport found three hollowed out pumpkins filled with about four pounds of cocaine. they were sent through an x-ray scanner because they seemed a little bit too heavy. the white house was bathed in orange last night. earlier the president and first lady handed out candy, cookies, dried fruit to trick or treaters to local school

children and children of military families. michelle obama was dressed festively in black and orange. in new york city the iconic empire state building displayed a special halloween light show synced to music on local radio stations blocks away in greenwich village. the 40th annual halloween parade was back in full swing after being canceled last year by superstorm sandy and the year before by a freak snowstorm. on the streets of hollywood, decked out in movie themed costumes, while in west hollywood streets were shut down for a carnival celebration. children in japan got in on the western tradition of trick or treating. the holiday was a chance for the kindergarteners to learn about western culter, practice english, and of course dress up in some cute costumes. and halloween may be known for trick or treating, but for one indiana couple it was the perfect time to say i do. the zombie bride and her ghoulish groom tied the knot in, what else, a haunted called the shadow asylum, which is also where the happy couple work. congrats to them. now for a look at your friday weather, here is bill karins.

>> nice for them. >> it was nice for them. austin, texas, that stormed moved into the ohio valley, they got rained out. now the big airport of the east coast. could be ripples and delays. for the most part should be looking at a quiet friday throughout much of the west. temperatures on the cool side. the next storm on its way. we will see clouds increasing during the day today. again, this clock is east coast time. take three hours off this. as we go throughout saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. or 8:00 a.m., yellow and red show heavier precipitation. light rain. up and down the corridor saturday morning, then inland, still be left with showers. saturday doesn't look like a complete washout. if you're anywhere from seattle southward, olympia, tacoma, eugene, medford, anywhere in between you will see rain.

no at lot of rain. rainfall totals an inch or less in all cases but still cloudy on the cool side. you're looking great for friday. sunshine after a cool start. warming up nicely in areas like tahoe. weekend forecast coming up. i mentioned rain on saturday. i'll let you know what sunday looks like. coming up, see who donald trump thinks is cool enough to give $10,000 to. plus, the most exciting new potato chip to come along in a very long time. police find an incredibly sophisticated drug tunnel along with thousands of pounds of pot and cocaine. that's coming up next.

a few stories making news this morning. more than 47 million food stamp recipients will see a cut in their benefits starting today. that's because stimulus funding instituted in 2009 automatically expires. the center on budget and policy priorities found the cuts translate into $29 less per month for a family of three. more than a third of abortion clinics in texas could be closed as early as today after a federal appeals court ruled the state's tough new abortion restrictions can take effect immediately while they're being challenged. planned parenthood says the fight is far from over. president obama is said to meet with the iraqi prime minister nouri al maliki at the white house today. the iraqi leader is asking for more help from the u.s. including weapons and shared intelligence to fight a surge of al qaeda terrorism. federal authorities have released images of a major and sophisticated tunnel they say was built to move drugs from mexico to the u.s. the recently completed passageway that connected san diego and tijuana had electricity, ventilation and a rail system. authorities seized 8.5 tons of

marijuana and 327 pounds of cocaine. three suspects are in custody. and car enthusiasts may find this next one a little bit disturbing. a new york city delivery truck backed into a $300,000 ferrari ff crushing the hood. adding to the truck driver's woes, he was ticketed for double parking. that's an expensive day. and speaking of money, mid october buffalo bus driver darnell barton saw a woman leaning over a guardrail and looking down at a busy expressway. he stopped his bus and saved the woman from jumping off a bridge. early this morning this tweet from donald trump. the bus driver who saved the woman from jumping off the bridge was really cool, a great guy. i'm going to send him $10,000. he deserves it. if you didn't get enough chocolate from halloween, get ready for wavy lay's covered in milk chocolate. the salty sweet treat will cost you $3.49 for just a 5 ounce bag. kraft is removing artificial dyes from three of its popular mac and cheese varieties.

they include kid friendly shapes such as sponge bob square pants, halloween, and winter shapes. the change will not affect kraft's plain elbow shaped original mac and cheese. a judge has ruled that a town cannot close a sriracha chili sauce plant. irwindale, california, residents wanted to close the plant that process 100 million pounds of peppers into sriracha sauce and other asian food condiments because it put out a pungent smell of pepper and garlic. finally, healthcare.gov is getting some super size support from employees at google, red hat and oracle. we'll have all your sports highlights coming up next including thursday night football, a soccer dustup and another amazing wing suit jump, this time in colombia. first, our trivia question. who's credited with first coming up with the idea for daylight saving time. is it leonardo da vinci, benjamin franklin, charles darwin, or albert einstein? the answer when "early today" returns.

before the break we asked who is credited with coming up with the idea for daylight saving time. the answer, benjamin franklin who first proposed it in 1784 in an essay saying people would use fewer candles if they rose earlier to make use of the morning light. turning now to sports and thursday night football. bengals/dolphins, an overtime thriller.

fourth quarter, only seconds left on the clock. caleb sturgis kicked a field goal to tie the game 20-20 and force o.t. the bengals had their back against the wall when they knocked andy dalton into the end zone for a game winning safety. it's only the third time in nfl history that an overtime game has ended in a safety. 22-20, miami up set cincinnati. to the nba and derrick rose's home opener in chicago. in the closing seconds, new york ahead by 1. rose drives down the right side. he's double teemed but scores the game winner with only 5.7 seconds remaining. bulls 2-81 over the knicks. mls soccer, andrea romero knocked sarcody down. he kicked him in the back side. other players got involved in the shoving. he was ejected. houston won 3-0. after boston's world series win, some historic red sox gear,

david ortiz' bat, glove of koji euhara, cleats and a glove with you headed for an exhibit to cooperstown. boston fans got another chance to celebrate. their trophy was brought to the bruins. >> in columbia, daredevil made an incredible jump from a helicopter in his custom made wing suit. cameras were attached to flores as he sped through the air at 100 miles an hour towards the sanctuary. the dallas mavericks have released a fun parody video on the song "what does a fox say" called "what do the mavs say". ♪ what do the mavs say ♪ ♪ what do the mavs say

♪ ♪ i wonder if they got to pick their own animal costumes. >> just ahead, the battle of hollywood's living legends at the movies. harrison ford takes on difficult niro, douglas, freeman and klein. you're watching "early today." well, welcome back.

>> lets talk about friday into the weekend. pacific northwest will be dealing with rain looks like

saturday morning at the most is when the highest amounts of rain are falling. seattle late in the day chance of showers. dry this morning. no problem getting into work or school. california, nevada, utah as we go through the weekend. this storm will only make it as far north as the border of california and oregon. the intermountain west as we get into sunday, the storm will click through and head your way. temperatures will drop at the higher elevations, snow in idaho, northern nevada and utah. instability showers to the northwest. not a washout of a weekend even in the pacific northwest, just not a lot of sunshine. >> kind of a mixed bag then. thanks, bill. time now for entertainment, a group of old timers are leading the charge of new releases. michael douglas, kevin kline, robert difficue niro will battl highly anticipated sci-fi flick

enders games. it's gone from bad to worse for jon and kate gosselin since their split. jon says the ex-couple prefers texting over speaking and that eight children are living in an unhealthy environment. celebrity divorces adopt always have to get ugly. according to various reports demi moore and ashton kutcher reached an amicable agreement in their divorce proceedings two years after their split. david bowie celebrated halloween by releasing a creepy new video. according to the press release, he released a new clip for "love is lost" in his new apartment for 13 bucks. the piano man plans to bring in the new year brooklyn style. billy joel will perform a new year's eve concert at the barclay center making it his first new york city show in seven years. finally, katy perry happily left one legendary rocker off her list of high-profile romances. this was way back when.

the pop star says she stiff armed milk jagger when he made a pass at her when she was 18 years old. she was back-up singer for the rolling stones. jagger says perry is confusing the rocker with someone else. i don't know his relationship status, but who would deny hitting on an 18-year-old katy perry. that's perfectly acceptable. >> she's a beautiful girl. can't blame the guy. >> not saying he didn't but can't admit to it. >> i'm mara schiavocampo. this is "early today." it's your first stop of the day on nbc.

the news in "the washington post" amid nsa spying revelations, tech leaders are calling for new restraints on agency. mounting revelations they are driving a renewed push for significant legislative action from an industry that has long tried to stay above the fray in washington. and in the u.k. "guardian" chinese officials and new photoshop fail. politicians apologize for releasing the doctored photo that shows their concern for the elderly. it shows an eerie floating head and torso looming over a doll sized woman. some stories you might have missed. just six people were able to sign up on healthcare.gov's site the first day. the documents show by the end of the next day only 248 people

completed enrollment on the federal health care website. federal investigators will now probe the strange death of a georgia teen. kendrick johnson was found dead rolled up in a gym mat on january 11th. police say it was a freak accident. johnson's parents believe their son was murdered. the u.s. attorney says it's his objective to discover the truth in the 17-year-old's death. a las vegas judge turns into a fairy godmother on halloween. the task went far beyond the dressup. with the wave of the gavel, she made adoption wishes for these children come through. that is such a sweet story. a texas physics class took pumpkin smashing to a whole new level. it was a high flying lesson on the works of velocity and gravity. the high school made the slinging device out of wood that launches the pumpkins, placing eggs in the hollow pumpkin trying to keep them from bursting and breaking using marshmallows and towels.

not all were so lucky. such a time-honored tradition. a science experiment where you have to make sure it doesn't break. >> that's extreme. >> extreme level. >> my technique was egg parachute. >> look at you. coming up this week, celebrating the red sox win using the same route they did in 2004, boston fans will cheer for the 2013 world series champs on saturday morning. weekend time change reminder. at 2:00 a.m. sunday morning clocks fall back to 1:00 a.m. daylight saving time ends in the u.s. happy birthday to baseball star coco crisp who is 34. jenny mccarthy is 41 and country singer lisle lovett is 56. coming up this morning on the "today" show. michael douglas, morgan freeman, kevin climb and robert de niro talk about their film right here. i'm mara schiavocampo. have a great one.

good morning to you. 4:30. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm marla tellez in for jon kelley. we begin this morning with breaking news. it's happening in milpitas. a construction worker is killed during overnight doing road work on interstate 680 near scott creek. damian trujillo is live at the site which may soon be declared a crime scene. >> reporter: this happened about 2:41 this morning. the crews were working for caltrans, not as employees but for a construction company that contracts with caltrans. they were picking up the cones and the road signs here when a silver nissan veered off